The Christmas Truce Song by Catherine Rushton, with Six-String Soldiers

Enjoy the Christmas Truce Song by Catherine Rushton performed by Six-String Soldiers, for a Christmas in July.

I had the pleasure of discovering Catherine Rushton a few years back. Through the magic of social-media I had the pleasure of meeting her via Facebook 🙂 She is as lovely as her music:

Christmas 1914 | What Christmas was like at the front in World War I composed by by Catherine Rushton, performed by Six-String Soldiers

The Christmas Truce Song, the words and music by Catherine Rushton illustrates a soldier’s perspective on a brief ceasefire to celebrate a holiday shared by people on both sides of the front lines. With footage and images from World War II.

Filmed at The Church of the Holy City in Washington, D.C.. U.S. Army video by Sgt. 1st Class Jimi Little, audio by Sgt. 1st Class. Jon Pusztai .

Lyrics

I am Private Angus Turnbull of the Highland Infantry.
In Flanders field I fought the Hun.
And there I fell, but I’ve a tale to tell
Of the Christmas I witnessed at the front.

‘Twas early Christmas morning when we heard the strangest sound
As silence crept through no-man’s land,
And the next we knew a German gunner crew
Had crossed the halfway line to shake our hands.

We were enemies one day and brothers the next.
We shared photographs and beer and schnapps, jokes and cigarettes.
‘Twas a sight I wish all mankind could have seen,
That Christmas, nineteen fourteen.

For three days we played football, three nights we drank and sang
‘Til it came time to say farewell.
Then we went to ground; each side fired three rounds
And just like that we all were back in hell.

We were enemies one day and brothers the next.
We shared photographs and beer and schnapps, jokes and cigarettes.
And we showed the world that peace was not a dream
That Christmas 1914.

Two weeks later I was buried while the war ran on and on
‘Til thirty million lost their lives,
But don’t weep for me beneath this poppy field
For I saw paradise before I died.

We were enemies one day and brothers the next.
We shared photographs and beer and schnapps, jokes and cigarettes.
And I came to understand what Christmas means
That Christmas 1914.

Stille Nacht, heilige nacht
Alles schlaft, einsam wacht
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Christ the savior is born,
Christ the savior is born.

The Christmas Truce Song by Catherine Rushton, with Six-String Soldiers

Catherine Rushton, musician:

Catherine Rushton on Soundcloud

Six-String Soldiers:

Army Field Band http://www.youtube.com/sixstringsoldiers http://twitter.com/armyfieldband http://www.instagram.com/armyfieldband
(source)

You can enjoy more Christmas on my blog, :

“Once upon a time, just after the stars and the earth first came to be and a few other seasons too… it was time for the first Autumn to throw its coat over the world. Days cooled down faster than before…” ~ The Legend of the Christmas Tree, a Bird and a Fir Tree

“t had snowed on the Gray-Haired Mountain that December and the winter’s icy breath had rolled down along the valleys…” ~ The Oldest Christmas Story and the Christmas Star

At the beginning of December, the flakes spiral and dance to the ground the same way Saint Nicholas’ white beard floats behind him as he strides along the road…” ~ First Snow and Saint Nicholas